ANNEXE 1 : RESOLUTION CONCERNING STATISTICS OF …



RESOLUTION CONCERNING STATISTICS OF HOURS OF WORK ADOPTED BY THE TENTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF LABOUR STATISTICIANS

(October 1962)

The Tenth International Conference of Labour Statisticians,

Considering that, in order to improve the statistical methods of each country as well as to permit international comparisons, standard definitions to be used in statistics of hours of work should be set up and existing international recommendations on the methods of collection of data on hours of work should be co-ordinated and developed;

Adopts this eleventh day of October 1962 the following resolution:

General objectives

1. This resolution applies to wage earners and salaried employees.

2. Each country should aim to develop a comprehensive system of statistics of hours of work in order to provide an adequate statistical basis for the analysis of conditions of work, the study of trends of economic activity, the analysis of partial employment and underemployment, the study of productivity, the computation of industrial accident rates and the computation of average hourly earnings.

3. These statistics should be developed in accordance with the specific needs of each country in the light of its social and economic structure and in accordance with international standards, in order to promote comparability among countries. Some countries will encounter difficulties in implementing this resolution at the present stage. These countries should envisage the resolution as a first attempt towards the improvement of international comparability in the field of statistics of hours of work. It is expected that at a later stage the resolution will be revised taking into account the experience gained in its implementation.

Definitions

4. (1) Normal hours of work are the hours of work fixed by or in pursuance of laws and regulations, collective agreements or arbitral awards.

(2) Where not fixed by or in pursuance of laws and regulations, collective agreements or arbitral awards, normal hours of work should be taken as meaning the number of hours per day or week in excess of which any time worked is remunerated at overtime rates or forms an exception to the rules or custom of the establishment relating to the classes of workers concerned.

5. (1) Statistics of hours actually worked should include -

(a) hours actually worked during normal periods of work;

(b) time worked in addition to hours worked during normal periods of work, and generally paid at higher rates than normal rates (overtime);

(c) time spent at the place of work on work such as the preparation of the workplace, repairs and maintenance, preparation and cleaning of tools, and the preparation of receipts, time sheets and reports;

(d) time spent at the place of work waiting or standing by for such reasons as lack of supply of work, breakdown of machinery, or accidents, or time spent at the place of work during which no work is done but for which payment is made under a guaranteed employment contract;

(e) time corresponding to short rest periods at the workplace, including tea and coffee breaks.

(2) Statistics of hours actually worked should exclude -

(a) hours paid for but not worked, such as paid annual leave, paid public holidays, paid sick leave;

(b) meal breaks;

(c) time spent on travel from home to work and vice versa.

6. Because of the wide difference among countries with respect to wage payments for holidays and other periods when no work is performed, it does not seem feasible at this time to adopt international definitions of hours paid for. Many countries will find, however, that statistics of hours paid for, while not suitable as a substitute for hours actually worked, can be useful for internal purposes and that they will commonly be readily available from payrolls and other records.

Methods of collection

7. Normal hours of work, where not fixed by or in pursuance of laws or regulations, collective agreements or arbitral awards, should be ascertained from organizations of employers and workers, from joint bodies, or from other appropriate sources of information such as special establishment surveys.

8. In order to allow for international comparisons of normal hours of work between countries where normal hours are fixed by the week and those where they are fixed by the day, countries in which hours of work are fixed by the day should indicate the number of days and half-days usually worked per week in each industry or branch of economic activity.

9. (1) Statistics of hours of work may be collected by establishment surveys or by household sample surveys.

(2) Establishment surveys have the advantage of yielding more accurate results; household sample surveys permit the coverage of a wider section of the working population and also make it possible to obtain indications on total hours worked by each person surveyed, particularly when they have several jobs.

(3) In countries where the majority of establishments are not in a position of supply data on aggregate man-hours worked, data should be collected from each establishment included in the survey on the average number of hours of work per week per worker actually applying to the employees of the establishment; such information may be combined into weighted averages per industry and supply a good substitute for average hours of work obtained by dividing aggregate man-hours by the number of workers.

10. In order to collect accurate data, the forms utilised to collect statistics on hours actually worked should contain detailed instructions as to the categories of hours which should be included or excluded from the data reported.

11. (1) Where the national definition of hours of work differs from the international definition of hours actually worked given in paragraph 5, inquiries should be undertaken from time to time in order to determine the difference between the data collected on the basis of the national definition and those which would have been obtained by using the international definition.

(2) In particular, where the data collected correspond to hours paid for, inquiries should be undertaken from time to time to determine for each industry the ratio between the number of hours actually worked as defined in paragraph 5 and the number of hours paid for.

Tabulation of data

12. (1) Information on normal hours of work should be compiled once a year for each major division of economic activity and, within each division, for each important subdivision.

(2) Statistics of hours actually worked should be compiled at least quarterly for each major division of economic activity (except for agriculture, where the collection of such information frequently involves unusual difficulties) and, within each division, for each important subdivision.

(3) The classification of economic activities used in the compilation of statistics of hours of work should adhere to, or be convertible into, the International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities.

13. Statistics of hours of work should always cover wage earners; at least once a year, similar data should be obtained for salaried employees, through estimates if necessary.

14. (1) For international comparisons, averages of hours actually worked per worker should preferably refer to a week, taking into account groups laid down in paragraph 15 below; international comparisons on the basis of other reference periods may, however, also prove useful.

(2) Data on hours actually worked originally obtained for periods other than a week should be converted to data referring to a week on the basis of the ratio between the number of working days in the period covered and in a normal week.

(3) Averages of hours actually worked per worker should be obtained by dividing aggregate man-hours by the total number of persons of whom the hours of work have been counted.

15. Where differences in the average number of hours actually worked between important categories of workers are large, separate data on the average number of hours actually worked per worker should be presented for each such category; for instance, for persons working part time, for full-time workers, for these full-time workers who were not absent during the period covered by the statistics, for casual and temporary workers, and males, females and young persons.

16. Data on employment should be collected at least once a year if possible, through establishment surveys or household sample surveys, showing in detail the distribution of persons in employment according to the number of hours they worked during the reference period; for instance, for a reference period of a week, the statistics could show the number of persons who worked 15 hours or less, more than 15 but less than 32 hours, 32 hours, more than 32 but less than 35, 35 hours, more than 35 but less than 40, 40 hours, more than 40 but less than 45 hours, 45 hours, more than 45 but less than 48 hours, 48 hours, more than 48 hours.

17. Data on the number of hours of overtime worked in mining and in each major manufacturing industry should be compiled at least quarterly.

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download